DESIGNING AN ENTERPRISE ON-DEMAND ACCESS ARCHITECTURE

A successful enterprise on-demand access implementation depends upon a comprehensive project design. A detailed and in-depth plan needs to address all aspects of the on-demand access migration, including data centers, disaster recovery, bandwidth, systems management, policies and procedures, security, applications, migration strategies, clients , and support. Unanticipated problems will occur even with the best-laid plans. Diligent work up front, though, will minimize any potential for big disasters and help ensure a successful implementation.

Windows 2003 Terminal Services is far more desirable and stable than a distributed PC-based computing environment, but PC users are often particularly unforgiving of problems because they are initially reluctant to give up the "personal" part of their personal computers.

The considerable technical and cultural challenges make in-depth project planning absolutely essential to a successful on-demand access implementation. The first step is to set up a proof-of-concept pilot to ensure that the crucial applications will run acceptably within an on-demand access environment. Next, assemble a project planning team to prepare a project definition document. The definition document will include the project goals, scope, roles, risks, success criteria, and milestones. The third step involves a comprehensive infrastructure assessment that will both ensure support for an enterprise on-demand access implementation and enable a meaningful planning process. Finally, a comprehensive design plan for migrating from a PC-based to an on-demand access environment will serve as a roadmap for the project managers and implementation teams . These steps are covered more thoroughly in Chapter 4.